Question for any Big 4 public auditors out there...

[Phokus]

My GF is looking to get into a big 4 firm, but i have a couple questions about the prcoess:

1) My GF went directly from undergrad to working as an accountant for a fortune 50 company (not internal audit). Is it harder to get into a big 4 firm if you don't do it straight out of school? She recently passed all 4 parts of the CPA exam FWIW.

2) She wants to work in Boston. She doesn't want to fly out of state. Is it normally possible for her to just work at client sites in the Boston area?

3) Do you know which sites your big 4 firm has new auditors train at and how many months must they train?

4) Is it possible to get hired now after the new auditors have already been hired, and by that i mean being hired outside of the normal hiring season (if that makes sense).

Thanks a lot guys!

 

[Gibson486]

My gf used to work for Deloitte.....
1. They are always looking for people...always...that said, they would rather higher new undergrad because the pay is cheaper. most people who wohirk their
are old

2. Deloitte does this, and i think PWC does also.

3. No idea.

4. yes.

 

[Phokus]

Originally posted by: Gibson486
My gf used to work for Deloitte.....
1. They are always looking for people...always...that said, they would rather higher new undergrad because the pay is cheaper. most people who wohirk their
are old

2. Deloitte does this, and i think PWC does also.

3. No idea.

4. yes.

Thanks dude!

If any other auditors (or friends/famliies of auditors) have any input, i'd greatly appreciate it!

 

[vital]

say goodbye to seeing your gf ever again once she gets in a big4.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: Phokus

Originally posted by: Gibson486
My gf used to work for Deloitte.....
1. They are always looking for people...always...that said, they would rather higher new undergrad because the pay is cheaper. most people who wohirk their
are old

2. Deloitte does this, and i think PWC does also.

3. No idea.

4. yes.

Thanks dude!

If any other auditors (or friends/famliies of auditors) have any input, i'd greatly appreciate it!

Goodluck to her, but the work there is wow. 60 hours/week is just the beginning. Lots of weeks it's 70 hours. The money is great though (all you have to do is complain about not having a life, and you get a raise).

The good news is that the big 4 is not as hard to get into as it was years ago. Appearently, lots of new students are turned off by the demands.

 

[OdiN]

I hate auditors. A lot of the audit requirements where I work are just worthless, meaningless wastes of time and resources.

 

[imported_Tick]

Originally posted by: OdiN
I hate auditors. A lot of the audit requirements where I work are just worthless, meaningless wastes of time and resources.

Wow that was such a usefull contribution. Thanks for contributing that.

 

[Ns1]

Originally posted by: OdiN
I hate auditors. A lot of the audit requirements where I work are just worthless, meaningless wastes of time and resources.

And when you don't have auditor's doing their job properly you have things like Enron, Adelphia, etc, etc, etc...

 

[Phokus]

Originally posted by: vital
say goodbye to seeing your gf ever again once she gets in a big4.

Yeah that's going to suck, but it's just 2 years so she can fulfill her cpa requirements... I remember reading one of these big 4 firms have some sort of work-life thing for people who want to work normal hours only, i think it was PWC or something.

 

[Kelvrick]

If she's just doing it to fulfill her CPE requirements, I think she'll be better off at a smaller firm, say 10-30. People tend to use the big4 as steps in my experience, I don't know of many who stick it out there. So, if she's not looking for that, hit up a smaller firm.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: Phokus

Originally posted by: vital
say goodbye to seeing your gf ever again once she gets in a big4.

Yeah that's going to suck, but it's just 2 years so she can fulfill her cpa requirements... I remember reading one of these big 4 firms have some sort of work-life thing for people who want to work normal hours only, i think it was PWC or something.

That is Deloitte. Basically, you have to come to work for 40 hours, but then you bring your work home. Doesn't really take hours away. You just combine home and work.

 

[Phokus]

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: Phokus

Originally posted by: vital
say goodbye to seeing your gf ever again once she gets in a big4.

Yeah that's going to suck, but it's just 2 years so she can fulfill her cpa requirements... I remember reading one of these big 4 firms have some sort of work-life thing for people who want to work normal hours only, i think it was PWC or something.

That is Deloitte. Basically, you have to come to work for 40 hours, but then you bring your work home. Doesn't really take hours away. You just combine home and work.

Hey that sounds pretty dang sweet! Maybe my GF can do that!

 

[eleison]

Originally posted by: Phokus

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: Phokus

Originally posted by: vital
say goodbye to seeing your gf ever again once she gets in a big4.

Yeah that's going to suck, but it's just 2 years so she can fulfill her cpa requirements... I remember reading one of these big 4 firms have some sort of work-life thing for people who want to work normal hours only, i think it was PWC or something.

That is Deloitte. Basically, you have to come to work for 40 hours, but then you bring your work home. Doesn't really take hours away. You just combine home and work.

Hey that sounds pretty dang sweet! Maybe my GF can do that!

Actually, I've know a few girls that worked for EY, acenture, deloitte, grant thorton, etc... It pretty much sucks because of all the hours... On the bright side, they do hire a lot of cute girls... all the girls I know who used to work at the big 4 left.. its just a stepping stone.. Personally, I don't think its worth it though. The are higher ups at these firms seem to be more sexual though than other fields though. There were stories that my friends told me about.. adultery, political fighting, etc.. Apparently, there was this one guy at grant thorton who always had a new mistress every year -- usually a girl right out of college easly impressed by titles ;-)

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: OdiN
I hate auditors. A lot of the audit requirements where I work are just worthless, meaningless wastes of time and resources.

You expect us to just take your word for how you run your business and your profitability? What am I? A freaking idiot? :roll:

Auditors are just normal people like you and I, doing a job. If you have nothing to hide then you'd do best to just give them what they ask for in a timely manner and not make a huge deal out of the entire process.

They definitely aren't worthless or meaningless.

<--Has gone through annual audits for many many years with various companies including SOX audits.

 

[OdiN]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: OdiN
I hate auditors. A lot of the audit requirements where I work are just worthless, meaningless wastes of time and resources.

You expect us to just take your word for how you run your business and your profitability? What am I? A freaking idiot? :roll:

Auditors are just normal people like you and I, doing a job. If you have nothing to hide then you'd do best to just give them what they ask for in a timely manner and not make a huge deal out of the entire process.

They definitely aren't worthless or meaningless.

<--Has gone through annual audits for many many years with various companies including SOX audits.

I'm not saying that auditing is bad in iteself, but there are some things which are just retarded.

 

[Phokus]

Originally posted by: eleison

Originally posted by: Phokus

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: Phokus

Originally posted by: vital
say goodbye to seeing your gf ever again once she gets in a big4.

Yeah that's going to suck, but it's just 2 years so she can fulfill her cpa requirements... I remember reading one of these big 4 firms have some sort of work-life thing for people who want to work normal hours only, i think it was PWC or something.

That is Deloitte. Basically, you have to come to work for 40 hours, but then you bring your work home. Doesn't really take hours away. You just combine home and work.

Hey that sounds pretty dang sweet! Maybe my GF can do that!

Actually, I've know a few girls that worked for EY, acenture, deloitte, grant thorton, etc... It pretty much sucks because of all the hours... On the bright side, they do hire a lot of cute girls... all the girls I know who used to work at the big 4 left.. its just a stepping stone.. Personally, I don't think its worth it though. The are higher ups at these firms seem to be more sexual though than other fields though. There were stories that my friends told me about.. adultery, political fighting, etc.. Apparently, there was this one guy at grant thorton who always had a new mistress every year -- usually a girl right out of college easly impressed by titles ;-)

:| guess i'll have to buy a gun (or steer my GF into internal auditing) ... sigh.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

I spent my first five years at PwC before moving to a local firm. I'm currently a senior manager in the audit department for a top 100 firm.

She will be taking a pay cut to move from industry to Big 4.

Have her check her State CPA board, they may not require her to have her audit hours to get her CPA license. All CPA licenses are good for is to sign an opinion for financial statements. So all those tax accountants with CPA's mean theyare not using there license at all. Many states have switched to a non-signor license.

She should submit her resume through the online process. All the Big 4 have online application processes. Best of luck there, they prefer college grads with zero experience so thaty can indoctrinate them into the firms ways. They break ya down and build ya up. Auditing is 90% on the job training and 10% education from college. You need to check your ego and attidue at the door as a first year and be a team player, why many industry vets never work out and why they are not fond of hiring them.


Never mention in an interview her unwillingeness to travel. Once she receieves her job, she needs to talk to her resource manager about her job assignments and request local work. Travel may still be mandatory based on a "special" project that her assigned audit client may be going through.

Gossip travels fast and always is blown up larger than reality, expect any cheating or sexual harassment to be minimal. Yes there is that one guy that everyone knows about but in each office there is 500+ people so its never widespread.

She should look for a more regional or local firm, they are much easier to hire into. If they don't work with SEC clients she will be better off as she won;t touch SOX, however Big 4 on the resume is great and helps open doors.

5yrs for me was a tough road, I outlasted more than 100 of my peers who I was hired in with fresh out of college. They quit, I stayed. Long hours, oh yeah! Way too many 80+hr weeks. 12-15hr days 6-7 day weeks.

Part time schedule at the Big 4 is considered a 40hr workweek in non-busy season and 50hrs in busy season. Regular workweeks in non-busy season are 50hr weeks.

Working from home? Not gonna happen, pretty tough to take home client work with you. Especially client files.

Training for audit is about 1-week. Usually done in-house. Off-site training usually occurs for 3-days after year two, considered new-senior training.

Strat groups happen a few times a year, if she interviewed now, they are conducting on-campus interviews and bringing candidates in house right now for Summer/Fall 2008 hiring. Usually start groups occur from August - Octotber. 15-20 per week. You literally interview the very start of your senior year of college.

They may be able to squeeze her into a start group in early January, that timing sucks as you are thrown onto a SEC public Company audit with little adjusting or training time.

Local firms hire throughout the year and are willign to start people whenever.

 

[thegimp03]

I'm currently entering my 3rd year at a Big 4 accounting firm. People who are in my start class have widely varying experiences which have been highly-dependent on the types of clients they've worked on.

1) It will be harder for her to get a job at a Big 4 firm out of industry. Having the CPA helps, mostly because the majority of the people with under 3 years experience don't have one yet because they've been working the hours that Fmr12b was describing. However, it will depend on if the office she is applying to needs experienced hires.

2) It will be possible, but don't mention it in the interview because recruiters never like hearing about a person's limits and definitely not a recruiter at a Big 4 firm because they think that everyone applying there is looking to dedicate their lives to auditing and loving it. The bad part about going in as an experienced staff-level person is that the people who have been in the Boston office since they started will already have permanent clients. Initially, with her coming in, and unless the Boston office of whatever firm she is hired at is in desperate need of people, she will not have a permanent client, making travel much more likely. Also, in my experience, I've seen a lot of experienced hires or rotationals from other offices/countries come in and they're shipped out all over the US including Alaska in -45 degree temps (from California, no less).

3) I'm located in California and typically my firm sends people to Orlando, Dallas, Atlanta, LA, Colorado, and Chicago depending on the industry that they work in. 1st year training is 2 weeks, 2nd year training is 6 days, 1st year senior associate training is 5 days. Training is one big party and people usually get fired at them because apparently they didn't learn their alcohol limit in 4-5 years of college. She will receive much more training on the job than sitting in a classroom for 9 hours a day.

4) My firm usually hires people in three stints - August, September, and January. She will be included in the January group.

Hope this helps, feel free to PM me for more detailed information.

 

[thegimp03]

Originally posted by: eleison

Originally posted by: Phokus

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: Phokus

Originally posted by: vital
say goodbye to seeing your gf ever again once she gets in a big4.

Yeah that's going to suck, but it's just 2 years so she can fulfill her cpa requirements... I remember reading one of these big 4 firms have some sort of work-life thing for people who want to work normal hours only, i think it was PWC or something.

That is Deloitte. Basically, you have to come to work for 40 hours, but then you bring your work home. Doesn't really take hours away. You just combine home and work.

Hey that sounds pretty dang sweet! Maybe my GF can do that!

Actually, I've know a few girls that worked for EY, acenture, deloitte, grant thorton, etc... It pretty much sucks because of all the hours... On the bright side, they do hire a lot of cute girls... all the girls I know who used to work at the big 4 left.. its just a stepping stone.. Personally, I don't think its worth it though. The are higher ups at these firms seem to be more sexual though than other fields though. There were stories that my friends told me about.. adultery, political fighting, etc.. Apparently, there was this one guy at grant thorton who always had a new mistress every year -- usually a girl right out of college easly impressed by titles ;-)

Haha, it's never a good idea to sleep with a chick who is a few pay grades below you are.

Sexual harassment charges, anyone?

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: eleison

Originally posted by: Phokus

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: Phokus

Originally posted by: vital
say goodbye to seeing your gf ever again once she gets in a big4.

Yeah that's going to suck, but it's just 2 years so she can fulfill her cpa requirements... I remember reading one of these big 4 firms have some sort of work-life thing for people who want to work normal hours only, i think it was PWC or something.

That is Deloitte. Basically, you have to come to work for 40 hours, but then you bring your work home. Doesn't really take hours away. You just combine home and work.

Hey that sounds pretty dang sweet! Maybe my GF can do that!

Actually, I've know a few girls that worked for EY, acenture, deloitte, grant thorton, etc... It pretty much sucks because of all the hours... On the bright side, they do hire a lot of cute girls... all the girls I know who used to work at the big 4 left.. its just a stepping stone.. Personally, I don't think its worth it though. The are higher ups at these firms seem to be more sexual though than other fields though. There were stories that my friends told me about.. adultery, political fighting, etc.. Apparently, there was this one guy at grant thorton who always had a new mistress every year -- usually a girl right out of college easly impressed by titles ;-)

I heard those too.....John Hancock is the worst though. No one there works, if there is a female in the higher ups, she probably slept with a manager to get there, and the managers are always trying to date the interns. that said....man, they give so many Red Six tickets away and the new manulife building is awesome.

 

[Phokus]

Thanks guys, i appreciate the help!

 

[TXHokie]

I always wonderer what auditors do. They come in, cramp into the conference room, fire up their laptops and order pizza and seems to live there (they're there when I come in and there when I leave). Do they just all bang on the spreadsheets all day? That's gotta be a tough job.

 

[Tifababy]

My wife is an auditor for E&Y

1) The turnover rate is very high, people get burned out quickly, so they're always looking. Although my wife did undergrad->internship at E&Y (thank goodness she turned down andersen)->masters->hired full-time by E&Y.

2) My wife travels a lot. We live in MN, but in the last few years she has flown to WI, IL, SD, KS, IA, NE, WY and MA.

3) My wife had training a year ago and she chose to go to Boston, because we had friends there. This year you have to choose the location closest to you, so she'll be going to Chicago this year.

4) It's probably easy to get hired now, because auditors busy season is starting now. Auditors don't get busy around tax time, they get busy now getting ready for all the companies that have 12/31 year ends.

Most of the year auditors at E&Y are required to work 55 hours and there are weeks when my wife has put in more than 100 hours, but the pay is pretty good...not the best, but definitely above average.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Originally posted by: TXHokie
I always wonderer what auditors do. They come in, cramp into the conference room, fire up their laptops and order pizza and seems to live there (they're there when I come in and there when I leave). Do they just all bang on the spreadsheets all day? That's gotta be a tough job.

Yep, spreadsheets of data ensuring that the Company they are auditing are doing all of there accounting correctly. Looking through lots of POs, invoices, shipping documents, leases, contracts, sales contracts, purchasing contracts.

Job isn't physically difficult at all until you are on the tail end of a 12-day stint working to get a press release out and have been at work 12-15hrs a day for 12 days straight.

The work is mentally challengin as you have to learn while on the job and each Company does things slightly different plus knowing what the accoutning rules are for each audit section.